When Devils Collide
The sun was high above, shining brightly on the clear blue body of water near what was supposed to be an isolated part of the beach, near large mountains. The isolation due to the fact, that recently a group of dark mages had taken refuge there threatening any who may enter their newly self-proclaimed base. These dark mages creating a ruckus on the beautiful beach, trashing it the longer they stayed. Fighting, drinking, partying all day and all night as the days passed. Unfortunately for them, their days would not last for too long, though it was not because of the actions of a would-be hero that would drive them away and save the day, but rather a powerful storm was headed their way. As before they made their way to the beach, they were tasked with stealing magical weapons for a certain Dark Mage. A certain dark mage that never received said weapons. That mage being Mao, who was one of the S-class mages of the ever elusive and super secret Phoenix Rising. Mao had found them easily enough after they failed to meet at the pre-determined destination. Approaching the beach, with no intention of hiding his presence or surprising his targets. Full of confidence and anger, Mao walked straight up to them displaying no fear. In fact, Mao said nothing as he began to barrage the dark mages with powerful flames as one by one, they were turned to dust. Until finally, only one remained. "Where are the Weapons?" asked Mao with a serious tone as he held the last surviving mage in one hand and exuded a powerful flame in his other. "It was the leaders idea to use the weapons as leverage for more money.....Ple..pleaaasee, I was just following orders." Proclaimed the dark mage as he was sobbing and begging for his life. Mao lifted his free hand close to the dark mage's face forming an orb of fire ready to destroy the frightened mage."Okay! Okay! I'll tell you where they are" mumbled the dark mage with great difficulty not being able to speak properly. Though Mao let the frightened mage go as he was interrupted by a voice quickly approaching from behind. "What are you doing? You are taking care of my job for me!" The newcomer mage yelled across the beach as he was walking up. Scorpius, the mage, was a long time member of the Koma Inu guild and a Sentinel member that protected Earthland. He had been sent to this specific beach to clear out the dark mages so that the public could use the beach once more without fear. He came close enough to Mao as to have a normal conversation without straining their voices against the sound of the waves before stopping. Scorpius crossed his arms in disappointment as he scanned the ashes strewn on the sand surrounding Mao. He focused on the man opposite him as he said, "I mean, I doubt the remaining dark mages will come back here, but did you have to kill them? I saw the smoke from half a mile from here, and it's going to be that much harder to clean up this beach." Scorpius asked as he knelt down to pick up a half drank glass bottle. Mao looked upon the new arrival with displeasure as he stared angrily at the young mage. Though quickly turning to the frightened dark mage as Mao used his Telekinetic power to cause the sand beneath the dark mage to swallow him up, but only half way, making sure he was trapped and wouldn't escape. Mao still had not spoken a word to the newcomer nor did he intend to, as he quickly pointed his palm at Scorpius quickly releasing multiple shockwaves of varying sizes, with the help of his Shockwave Magic. Though that was but a mere diversion as Mao, placing his free hand slightly behind himself so as to not show Scorpius, created multiple Fire Orbs '''that stayed floating in place, ready to attack the young mage on Mao's command. Scorpius braced himself for a fight as Mao faced his palm towards him, not expecting the shockwaves. He focused on his aura on maintaining his balance from the multiple blasts. After the blasts had finished, Scorpius reset his footing in the sand. "That was quite rude if I do say so. Usually, people ask for my name before they try and attack me." Scorpius opened his palms out toward Mao as his '''Mistify spell began to form a fog around the two mages, hiding the actions of Scorpius as he began to produce his 5 water body doubles. As quickly as the fog came, it soon disappeared, revealing now 6 mages around Mao all facing him. "Now this is how you are supposed to greet someone," Scorpius said as the 6 doubles paired off around Mao, performing multiple different greetings very raucously. Scorpius and his doubles then turned towards Mao with his hand out. "Now your turn!" They all said with a smile. Mao was surprised, but kept his composure and looked beyond the clones as his shockwaves served two purposes. To distract Scorpius and to shatter the glass bottle the young mage had picked up earlier. Mao looking upon the shattered glass, took a hold of all the pieces with his telekinesis and sent them flying, aiming for all the clones to his side, while his Fire Orbs took flight towards the clones behind him, with the exception of one. As this was going on Mao had finally spoken to Scorpius, replying " You won't live long enough to remember my name!" in a very serious, but calm tone. With the one remaining orb, Mao quickly turned around and slammed it downward with his palm. Using great force, subsequently increasing the velocity greatly, thus causing a much larger impact. This caused Mao's Fire Orb to burst as soon as it hit the ground, though thanks to the added push. The Fire Orb burst in such a way, that flames scattered in all directions, while at the same time creating a smoke screen providing Mao with much needed cover. As the fire orbs and glass shards flew towards Scorpius and his double's, Scorpius melted his watery form and fled across the sand out of the blast radius before reforming, all while his body doubles burst back into fog again. Added with the smoke from the Fire Orbs, the area around Mao was too thick to see through. Scorpius fully formed out of his water body and drew his sword with one hand and prepared his other with a Water Pistol '''spell to fire off towards Mao once he was visible. Scorpius also used '''Magical Enforcement '''on his sword to increase its strength against the flame attacks. "Seems you want to fight to the death, yet I've never wronged you here. What gives, man?" Scorpius said in a friendly tone to try and calm his attacker. "Wrong time, wrong place!" Shouted Mao while in the cover of the smokescreen. While also placing his arm forward with his palm facing the ground. "Though you and Koma Inu will be swallowed by the shadows soon enough." Mao continued as he also began to activate his spell, '''Devil's Gate- Devil's Dominion. '''As a large magic circle appeared beneath Mao, which from it rose a large flaming skull carrying Mao on the top of its head as it rose.Because the large flaming skull was releasing a moderate amount of magic, the smokescreen began to dissipate slowly, though not before Mao activated his first attack. As the large flaming skull released a beam of fire that started from the left and then traveled in a sweeping motion to the right causing a small eruption of fire wherever the beam traveled." This isn't a fight..... It's your execution!" Scorpius gritted his teeth in annoyance. He canceled his '''Water Pistol spell and replaced it with his Bubble Shield as he crossed his face with his arms to protect from the heat. The shield created a dense dome of water to protect Scorpius from the flames. As the shield was hit with the beam of fire, a cloud of steam erupted as the flames evaporated the water slowly. Scorpius lowered his arms a bit to gauge where the flames were coming from. After pinpointing the location, He stomped his foot into the sand as it was hidden from view, sending his Water Spout attack directly below the fire spitting skull. The water spout erupted from the ground in the intent to disrupt and cancel out Mao's previous attack. "It will be a lot harder to kill me than you think!" Scorpius yelled over the din of the two attacks. He proceeded to slide himself back over the sand towards the water through the dome of water, giving himself better access to extra fire power. He engulfed his hand with water from the ocean, ready to attack the other mage at a moments notice. The wild twister tore through the flaming skull directly below Mao, though thanks to the magical power behind the skull, the twister was slowed down enough for Mao to jump away, suffering only minor damage. Mao reacting on pure instinct, quickly pinpointed his target from high above. He aimed his palm at the water now engulfing Scorpius' hand using his telekinetic powers to hopefully lock the water in place, but most importantly trying to immobilize the young mage or at the very least prevent the usage of the extra water. Mao began to inhale and gather his magic into his mouth, shortly after yelling "Fire Devil's Rage!" 'releasing three large fireballs towards Scorpius, though the fireballs began to drift apart from each other slowly as if Mao was covering three areas instead of one. "NO! escaping me will be impossible!" Mao replied as he retorted to Scorpius' last remark. Scorpius felt a wave of foreign magical energy try and hold his water engulfed hand in place. He tried to shake his hand free with some success when the three fireballs were created. Scorpius quickly reacted by sheathing his sword while breathing water molecules from around himself. "'Water Devil's Rage!" Scorpius yelled as a high-pressure beam of water flew towards the closest of the three fireballs, piercing it and making its movement null. Scorpius continued the beam of water and moved it in a curved towards the other two fireballs in hopes of diffusing them as well, all the while finally shaking loose of the foreign magic around his arm. Scorpius managed to diffuse the second fireball, but pushed himself back across the surface of the last and final fireball was about to hit. The fireball exploded on contact with the water where he had stood, giving small burns to the mages forearms and slightly singed his clothes. Scorpius looked towards the other mage now, pissed off. "Alright, no more games." He said as he pointed his palm towards the other mage. "Water cannon!" Scorpius yelled as a barrage of cannonball shaped water hurled through the air towards the other mage, following any movements he made. During the same time, Scorpius willed strands of water to enter just under the sands surface to make a grid out of sight from the other mage. Using his Telekinetic power to stay afloat, Mao dodged the incoming barrage one after one, but to no avail as they continued to follow his every location no matter how many times he dodged. But it was during this brief exchange that Mao calmed himself down, as his rage was beginning to arise and take over. Specially since noticing that the dark mage he captured had fled, probably during his first attack or when his flaming skull was shattered by the young mage's twister."You're right. No more games" ''Mao whispered to himself and then yelled out "'Fire Devil's Wings'" as large amounts of magic began to pour out from him. Though the water cannons where still in pursuit, they were halted by Mao's Shockwave that he released at the same time he created his spell. The water cannon's were not destroyed, but rather they were stopped mid-flight as if something was pushing them back, while they tried to push forward. Mao was now completely covered in his flames, though that wasn't the big surprise, but rather the Massive purple-ish wings that were attached to his back. The Wings almost immediately pointed upward, and shortly after a large magic circle appeared above them. From the Magic circle, numerous rays of concentrated fire began to rain down everywhere. Successfully hitting the water cannon's and destroying them by causing multiple explosions where they connected causing a sea of explosions all around Mao, though thankfully from a safe distance. This caused major damage to the surroundings as the rays eventually hit the ground also causing explosions in their wake. Mao began to gather his magic once more in his mouth, though this time it was different and in larger quantity. Mao then yelled "'Fire Devil's Rage!", but instead of releasing the gathered magic, Mao immediately bit down, this caused a surge of Mao's flames to erupt around him once more, though it quickly took shape. The flames formed perfectly around Mao, though now his head had long flaming horns while his lower back now had a long tail, truly giving Mao the appearance of a devil or demon. Mao stared down focusing and waiting to see what the young mage would do. Scorpius brought up a wall of water to shield himself from the explosions caused by Mao's wings. He watched closely as Mao's body was enraptured with the visage of a devil. "Impressive. I've never met a fellow Devil Slayer before. I had my suspicions before with your attacks, but I wanted to see if you could transform at all." Scorpius said to the mage as he started his own transformation. His body began to glow with his light blue aura before he spoke his incantation, "I give my body and soul to the destruction of the legions of hell'." This caused his features to change as his veins turned black, horns appeared on his temple, and water began to fall off his body profusely. As he stood on the water, it could be seen that the water began to change properties as it was beginning to be filled with toxins and impurities that were flowing from Scorpius. His aura also changed to sporadically shift with dark blue and black hues. "Now then. Since you won't introduce yourself, I'll go first. My name is Scorpius, the Corrupted Water Devil Slayer." Scorpius said with a bow as he conjured his '''Devil's Blades' around his arms to protect himself from a sneak attack. He looked up to the other mage with a devilish grin as he couldn't hold back his excitement over this fight. Mao's wings flapped once and almost instantly appeared close to Scorpius, though still distant enough to stay out of reach. Still being airborne, Mao looked down on Scorpius and replied with a calm demeanor "If you survive? You shall know my name." Then quickly flew back up towards the sky returning to his previous location. "The fight starts now! don't hold anything back!" Mao yelled then began to extend his right arm forward, closing his hand with the exception of his index and middle finger. Mao calmly almost whispering said "Puncture" as he began to draw multiple lines in the air using is fingers. After drawing four lines, multiple needles of Mao's flames began to release from the drawn lines and rain down towards Scorpius, though Mao used this as a means of distraction as he quickly began another spell. With his arm still extended outward, but his hand now open with the palm facing down, Mao yelled out "Devil's Gate!Devil's Dominion!" this caused the flaming skull from earlier to arise once more placing Mao on top of it's head, Though this time the skull quickly opened it's mouth and began to release large fireballs with horns sticking out of them. The skull released a total of thirteen that were falling, almost floating downward. The fireballs began to change and turn into small fire creatures with the physiology of what an imp or tiny devil would look like. Having horns, wings, a tail and a small trident burning with Mao's ferocious flames. Scorpius formed another dome around his body to protect him from the needles of fire, as they hit the dome they fizzled out into steam, and any holes they managed to create, were quickly filled with the swirling water. "Survival is never a problem for me when I'm in my element," Scorpius said as he pointed his hand up towards the fireballs turned imps, and conjured two spells. "Sleet! Devil's Torrent!" The first spell caused water particles within the air and from the ocean below to fire towards Mao and his imps in the purpose of piercing them. The second spell created a hurricane-force storm above their heads, blocking out the sun and giving Scorpius protection from energy attacks as the rain deflected some attacks while also making it harder for others than him to move within the air. Scorpius dropped his bubble shield as he rose into the air on a pillar of water so he is on the same horizontal plane as Mao. "Water-Make: Hunter's Bow" Scorpius said as a quiver of arrows formed on his back, a hunter's bow formed within his hands and a water arrow was set to fire. Scorpius pulled back on the string as he aimed towards Mao's general area. "Haven't you ever heard? Water will always beat fire when there is enough of it." Scorpius smirked as he fired his arrow towards the skull below Mao. Mao smirked, but quickly responded "The Fire's of Hell can never be put out." as he began covering himself and the giant flaming skull underneath him with his massive fire wings. Protecting it from the arrow heading their way. Mao's Imps had also been pierced by Scorpius' spell, though they remained mobile. unfortunately, their reactions did slow down considerably, especially as the storm began to force the numerous imps to take a defensive stance changing back to their fireball forms while in mid-air. This was fortunate though as Mao released a large shockwave seconds after covering himself with his wings, which was released the moment Mao spread his wings open once again, releasing a shockwave with great force, which served multiple purposes. The shockwave propelled the numerous imps to fly forward at high speeds, some heading towards Scorpius. The shockwave deterred the storm and pushed it away and the moment Mao flapped open his wings, hundreds of fire feathers were released into the air, which thanks to the shockwave, they were pushed into higher and farther locations, essentially creating a field of feathers all floating down slowly around Mao and Scorpius. "Fire will eradicate all! Even water!" Mao yelled in a serious tone, while some of the imps that were pushed forward, were headed to the now impure body of water beneath them. The imp's being covered in Mao's Devil Slayer flames, used the toxins now present within the water as a medium to set it ablaze, creating a partial sea of flames. "There is no place in this world that will not become my domain!" "Fire is easily extinguished by water!" Scorpius yelled as began punching all of the imps now flying towards him as he flew into the air with his Water Devil's Wings. The water surrounding his hands, as well as his physical strength, allowed him to punch through all of the imps with spikes of water, rendering them near unconscious and extinguished. He flew back to the same altitude as Mao as the shockwave ended that pushed the imps and the storm away, but the storm returned as quickly as it left as Scorpius willed the storm to stay above them. Scorpius raised up a wave of water to topple over the now flaming sea, extinguishing the flames and releasing steam and smoke in the air. "Your plan is to conquer the world? So cliche," Scorpius said sarcastically as he whistled between his teeth. Suddenly large mass of tentacles reached out of the sea, reach up around and above Mao and his flaming skull in the efforts to wrap around him and pull him into the sea. During this, Scorpius grabbed his enforced sword and flew towards Mao personally to make a swing at him.